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But the select Senate panel debating the expansion proposed a compromise: to accept the federal money but use it to put low-income people into private insurance plans. Accepting the money would please the governor and a number of Floridians, while steering people away from Medicaid, which many lawmakers and residents view as troubled.

The committee vote to reject a Medicaid expansion under President Obama's health care overhaul was 7 to 4, with Democrats voting for the expansion.

Last week, a Florida House committee voted to reject Medicaid expansion altogether, saying that the system was broken and that adding people to the rolls would cost taxpayers too much money in the long run. The House speaker, Will Weatherford, a Republican, said it was the wrong approach, calling it a "dangerous path."

From the start, Mr. Scott knew it would be difficult for the Florida Legislature to embrace Medicaid expansion, even for only three years, which is what he proposed. The governor had staked his political career on derailing what he calls "Obamacare," and his abrupt reversal did not endear him to conservatives in Florida or in the Legislature.

Mr. Scott had a measured but optimistic reaction to Monday's Senate committee vote, expressing confidence that the Senate would ultimately craft a bill that would use federal money. The federal government would provide 100 percent coverage for new enrollees for three years.

"I am confident that the Legislature will do the right thing and find a way to protect taxpayers and the uninsured in our state while the new health care law provides 100 percent funding," Mr. Scott said in a statement after the vote.

A Senate committee will convene to craft a plan that would use federal dollars under the law to expand Florida Healthy Kids, a well-established, well-liked health care exchange for low-income children. The proposal would allow the one million uninsured adults who qualify under the health care law to join the exchange and choose among various insurance plans. They would pay on a sliding scale, depending on income.